Bleach: Rise of the Mechanical Inferno
by Zerokura
Summary: New freinds, new foes, and new challenges. The life of a soul reaper is never easy, and Ichigo is living this lesson more than he ever thought possible.
1. Chapter 1

**Notice: The Fan fiction was made with the purpose of entertainment, having in no way any relation to the events of the manga or anime that this story is based upon. Only one character is mine alone, and all others were created by Tite Kubo. It should be obvious who that one character is.**

"KON! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!?!?" Ichigo yelled, throwing the stuffed animal across the room. It slammed into the wall, slid down, then popped back up.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!! I just wanted a peek, sheesh." It yelled in a pure fury. He stood up and folded his arms across his chest.

"DAMNIT KON!" Ichigo screamed, picking him up and hurling him into the window. "You're just like I can't kill you!"

"What is it with you? It was just Orihime, sheesh." Kon said, turning his back to Ichigo and folding his arms across his chest.

"That's exactly why you can't do that shit." Ichigo said throttling the small plush lion Kon inhabited. He then hurled Kon into the closet and slammed the door shut. Ichigo sighed, placing one hand on his head and closing his eyes. He lay on his bed, half asleep, fully exasperated with Kon's attitude. He dozed a bit, drifting between reality and dreams. Before he knew it, it was seven-o-clock in the evening, time for dinner. He headed down, waiting for his father to attack, but it didn't come.

"Ichigo, you're just in time for dinner. Dad's got a meeting tonight and won't be home 'till late." Yuzu explained, setting a plate for Ichigo. He sat down without a word, eating hastily so he could get some sleep.

"Ichigo, you shouldn't eat so fast…" Yuzu said, but he ignored her and headed back to his room. He really just wanted to sleep. He felt a sense of foreboding though, but he was unsure of what it meant. He opened the door to his room, lay back down on his bed, and tried to sleep. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a person came crashing through his window, and his deputy badge started screaming "Hollow! Hollow!" so loud he thought his ears would burst. The person was gone as quick as he came; leaping out the hole he entered from.

"Kon!" Ichigo yelled, whipping open the closet and grabbing the stuffed lion. "Keep track of things while I'm gone and stay quiet." He said, grabbing the soul pill out of the lion's mouth. He swallowed the pill himself, and instantly became a soul reaper. He leaped out the hole, leaving Kon behind.

'Damnit, where… There it is!' Ichigo thought, and he looked over the situation carefully. There were three hollows surrounding one young man, around Ichigo's own age, but he held what looked like two swords of flames in his hands, and one arm and both legs shone with some sort of silver sheen.

"I've been waiting for a good fight all day! Bring it on!" The boy said, turning and looking at each hollow. One leaped at him, and he deftly turned it aside with the flaming swords, and bent over backwards, knees at right angles, back parallel to the ground as one lunged. He stabbed it with one sword, avoiding the mask. He threw it off his sword and turned to the third, blocking its claws with the swords. The boy hurled it back and ran up its body, pulling a back flip off its neck and throwing two balls of fire at it. He rolled back a bit on the landing, then popped back up ready to roll, two new swords of fire in his hands. Then he looked right at Ichigo.

"You gonna help me out or not? In case you haven't noticed, I don't have a Zan-paku-to." He shouted, ducking and dodging the attacks of one of the hollows.

"What? Oh, yeah!" Ichigo said, startled slightly. He leaped down and cleaved the head off one of the other tow hollows while the other boy blasted the other two with fireballs, leaping off walls and ducking attacks. Ichigo struck one from behind, finishing it off. The other one was surrounded by flames being manipulated by the other boy, but they were blue and white instead of red.

"Burn you foul demon." He said, and the flames grew higher. The hollows screams intensified.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ichigo yelled, and suddenly the flames were gone, and the boy was leaping onto a rooftop.

"Finish him off!" He shouted to Ichigo, and he crouched on the rooftop, clutching a wounded shoulder. Ichigo sliced down the hollow, and then turned to find the other guy had vanished.

"Where'd he go…?" Ichigo said, and then he turned to the hole in his roof.

"I'm in here dumbass." Came a voice, and Ichigo climbed back in.

"That how you thank everyone who saves your hide?" Ichigo said, Zangetsu still in hand.

"Only when I'm not with her." The other boy said, "The name's MI, Short for Mechanical Inferno." He said, holding out his right arm. Now that he could see it clearly, Ichigo noticed the arm was made entirely of metal, with gears and plates, and a lone spring sticking out of the elbow joint. MI's eye was a large red glass pane with a shutter and some gears going back into around his ear, and his legs were also mechanical.

"I know, I look like a walking car wreck. I did this to myself. Took a flame sword to my arm and legs. Nearly stabbed my own brain out, but someone stopped me at my eye." MI said, putting his arm down at his side. Then his eyes whipped over to the window.

"Well hello? What have we here?" MI said, walking over to a black butterfly that had flown in.

"So, you found me again." He said, holding the butterfly on one finger, and then he stood back, letting it float there, then watching with a smile as a young woman appeared where the butterfly had been.

"Rukia!" Ichigo and Kon shouted together, each awestruck by her sudden return.

"Hey Ichigo, Kon, long time no see." Rukia said with a smile. She then turned to MI.

"Hey." He said, barely managing to hide his smile.

"I still haven't repaid you for the last time we were together." She said, suddenly serious. She walked over to him, her eyes set on his.

"You don't have to, really…" MI said, backing away, but he was cut short by the wall and Rukia suddenly punching him right in the gut.

"That's for leaving me," She said, then continued with a fierce blow to the stomach, "that's for leaving me to the hollows," and then she just started punching him at random, "And these are just because I like hitting you!" MI made no efforts to resist until about the twentieth hit.

"Who knew such a pretty face had so much punch." He said, holding her fists while looking her clean in the eyes. He was bleeding out the mouth and nose, and yet he was still smiling. Rukia slowly unclenched her fists, and MI let her go.

"I just had to get that out… I'm sorry Chris." Rukia said, turning away from him.

"I thought you said your name was MI?" Kon said.

"It is… I don't know how many time's I told you that Rukia." MI said.

"I know, but you'll always be Chris to me." She said, and she turned and grabbed him in a fierce hug.

"Rukia… you're… crushing… my… lungs…" MI sputtered, and Rukia let him go, blushing slightly. Ichigo had long since put away Zangetsu and turned away. Now he had his head cocked over his shoulder, slightly scowling.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to get out of Ichigo's body as much as he want's to be in it again." Kon said finally.

"Yea." Ichigo said, and he knocked Kon upside the head with his deputy pass and tossed the pill back into the stuffed lion. He got back in his body and continued to glare at Rukia and MI.

"I'd better go. Things to do, you know." MI said, and he walked over to the window, slid out, and leaped onto the city streets below.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ichigo." Rukia said, and she left out the hole in the roof. Ichigo said nothing, and did his best to get to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notice: The Fan fiction was made with the purpose of entertainment, having in no way any relation to the events of the manga or anime that this story is based upon. Only one character is mine alone, and all others were created by Tite Kubo. It should be obvious who that one character is.**

Ichigo awoke the next day and looked at the hole in his ceiling.

"Wonder how I'll cover this up. I guess I'll go with some idiot was running around on rooftops with a cinder block or something." He said, uncaring and unfocused. He walked out to find the house empty and a note on the table.

"THEY DID WHAT?!?!?" Ichigo shouted, looking at it. It read

_Ichigo, sorry we didn't wake you, but school's cancelled today. We decided to go shopping and then to the park to hang out and figured you'd be with your friends all day anyway. Well, if you're not busy with something else anyway. Oh, and Orihime and Chad stopped by and said they were going to some other guy's house. I think they said Urahara. Later_

_-Karin_

"Why'd they want to meet you there?" Kon said, reading the note over Ichigo's shoulder.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Ichigo said, and he stuffed Kon in a bag, threw some clothes on, and raced out the door. He didn't get far before he saw Uryu racing down the same road.

"Uryu, wait up!" Ichigo said, running to catch up, but Uryu dashed off down a side road and disappeared into the crowd. Ichigo decided to just continue on to Mr. Urahara's, since Chad and Orihime were there. Maybe then he'd find some answers.

"Hey Ichigo, glad you made it." Chad said as Ichigo walked in. Orihime waved to him, and it didn't take long for Ichigo to find Rukia standing in a back corner.

"So, what's up?" Ichigo said, looking around. Orihime started first.

"There's some sort of space station that just appeared out of nowhere, and Rukia came by and told us to come here and wait." She said, not sure what else to say. She started again, but Chad had already taken the baton.

"They say the station's massive, but when shuttles went in to find humans on board, they couldn't find anyone, and the whole place looked like it hadn't been visited in years." Chad said, and he pulled out a picture of the station. It was a large disk, with solar panels covering the surface, but not the sides. There were only two breaks in the panels, and the side had what looked like an airlock.

"So, why are we supposed to meet here?" Ichigo said.

"I believe I have an answer to that." A voice said, and a figure dropped in from the ceiling, dressed in a black hat, trench coat, and jeans, with matching black combat boots. Underneath the coat a red and orange shirt with yellow highlights could be seen.

"What? You again!" Ichigo said, recognizing the face under the hat.

"Ah yes, it's MI," The black garbed man said, "and I've come to bring you to the station, at my own personal request." He walked to the door, throwing it open and walking out. Ichigo followed first, and was first to witness the landing of the Blacke eagle.

It was sleek, smooth, shining perfection, its wings straight out, with jets on the ends. The main body was an aerodynamic masterpiece, and in all it looked like a small Boeing mixed with a stealth fighter. It was even painted jet black.

"Ah, good old Blacke eagle. Fastest way to the station, let's get on board." MI said, and by pressing one button on a strange remote, a section of the bottom slowly lowered itself to the ground, a ramp into the ship. MI was first up, Rukia fast on his heels, while Ichigo came in last, still in awe.

The inside was even more impressive than the outside, with the design and feel of a luxury jet, yet it wasn't too classy.

"Everyone strap in and try not to throw up on the leather." MI said, strapping into the pilot seat. Ichigo strapped in towards the back, not wanting anyone to see him admiring the ship. No one expected the next move MI made, as the ship flew straight up, stopping when it was high enough to pass over some buildings, then it shot off like a rocket, headed up at a ninety degree angle. Ichigo felt flat against the seat, and the extra gravity from their acceleration added even more pressure.

"This is gonna get a little rough!" MI shouted, and he pushed the joy stick forward, changing the angle to only forty-five degrees. The ship was now being jostled by turbulence, but the pressure was slackening as MI eased the throttle down. MI had a strange, determined look on his face as he turned back to everyone else.

"Whatever you do, don't move." He said, turning back to the viewport. He jammed the throttle back forward and flipped open a case over a key hole. MI jammed the key into it and readied to turn, watching the viewport intently. The ship was smoothing out, but the pressure was so intense Ichigo couldn't move. He could only focus on the key and what MI was going to do with it. Then he found out, as MI turned the key. Suddenly the whole ship stopped, and the station appeared ahead. MI activated thrusters in the front of the Eagle, and they drifted over to the airlock. MI was out of his seat first, followed closely by Chad. Ichigo followed a little behind them with Orihime and Rukia.

They stepped into the station, and Ichigo saw what the thing was built for. There were monitors and computer banks everywhere, with loads of weird looking tubes and machinery everywhere. One large screen dominated half the wall, and it had a full view of the earth. The entire place was some sort of research station, but it had the feeling of a mad scientist's lab at the same time.

"Welcome to my sanctuary, my sole place of refuge, my fortress of solitude." MI said, motioning to everything. He was walking slowly towards a doorway leading out of the main room. He stepped into the room, and a well lit hallway met them. There were multiple doors leading off the hall.

"Here is the sleeping quarters. Personally I prefer sleeping in the main room, less hassle when the alarm goes off, but you can all pick rooms." MI indicated to each of the rooms, and he then turned to leave them to make decisions amongst themselves.

"So, we separate the rooms like this. Chad and I get the two rooms on the right, while Rukia and Orihime get the ones on the left. Now, I'm going to get some rest." Ichigo said, not caring what the others did. He went into a room, threw his stuff on the floor, and lay down in the bed. It was oddly softer than he was used to, and the artificial gravity made it a lot better than he thought it would be. He just noticed the artificial gravity, and he wasn't surprised. A place like had to be ahead of it's time. Suddenly the lights all turned red and an explosion rocked the station. MI burst into the hallway, racing to a closet, grabbing out a strange looking rifle and racing back to the main room.

"Damnit! You will never get this station!" He shouted, and then Ichigo saw the giant snake slithering in through an air duct.

**To be continued**


	3. Chapter 3

"What the hell's going on here

"What the hell's going on here?" Ichigo hollered, but he was drowned by the alarms. The snake had crawled out of the duct and was taking another shape. MI had dropped his gun and was pulling out a pair pistols, but they were suddenly yanked from his hands by a pair of black tendrils.

"Damnit, they're both here… This will be a little tougher than I thought." MI muttered to himself. The alarms had been switched off, and the snake had finished its shape shifting. A girl had appeared in its place, somewhat tall, wearing all red with black hair and green eyes. MI glared at her, his mechanical eye's shutter closing almost fully. Rukia looked at the newcomer warily, and Orihime and Chad hung back to avoid getting in the crossfire that was imminent.

"Ah, MI, the mechanical inferno, it's been some time since we last saw you back at grandfather's lab." The girl said. Another girl with an almost identical look, only in all black with blonde hair came from the shadows, saying, "Indeed sister, it's been almost forever."

"Pain and Misery, my closest companions, or at least, they were, but then I left Cerax's lab, and then it was fire and sky. You two know why I left, and you also know that I'm not going back. Ever." MI stated, looking at them with a mixture of hatred and fear. Ichigo had no idea what was going on, but he knew something bad was going to happen, and with how these two looked, bad things could definitely turn worse.

"Who are these clowns?" He asked, looking to Rukia and MI.

"These two, are my cousins, Pain and Misery. Pain can shape shift into almost anything, and Misery can control shadows." MI explained, not budging or changing his gaze, "Basically, they're just as dangerous as I am, and maybe even more so."

"Oh MI, you're too kind." Misery said, smiling. She waved her hand, and a dark tendril flew from her shadow, headed for Ichigo's face. MI had seen it coming, and blocked it with his swords. Chad, Orihime, and Ichigo snapped into battle mode, with Ichigo grabbing the gun while Chad and Orihime watched for more attacks. Shadow tendrils were flying at all of them, with a majority of them heading for MI. He dodged and blocked most of them, trying to get closer to Misery, but Pain had turned into a tiger, leaping at through an opening. The fight was getting farther and farther out of hand, with attacks flying everywhere.

"Someone get to the floodlights!" MI shouted, struggling to get Pain off of him. Rukia was pinned in a corner, Ichigo and Chad were lining up a shot, but Orihime was moving towards the lights largely unnoticed. She flipped the switch on one of the lights, and instantly the tendrils were dispelled. Pain leaped away from MI and returned to her normal form.

"This isn't the last you'll hear of us." Misery shouted, as the two ran to the second docking bay. MI watched them go, and then looked at his companions.

"Anyone who isn't dead, say something." He said, and heard various responses. The room was in shambles, and the floodlight was switched off. Everyone had made it through without injury, and MI heaved a sigh of relief.

"Well, glad that's over." He muttered, and looked up as everyone but Rukia looked straight at him.

"I guess I owe you all an explanation as to why my cousins and my grandfather would want me dead. Well it's a long story and is best told through images." MI muttered, walking over to the main computer. He pulled up multiple images, and began his tale.

"Long ago, my family was cursed. It was the type of thing that was meant to end a family line, and as such I'm supposed to be the one who ends the family. The curse foretold of one who could control flames, whom would burst into flame on the anniversary of his birthday. I never really understood what danger I was until I was five. There was a gas leak in our house, and when I went inferno, well, you get the picture. My father died then, and I was the only one left. The thing I remember most of that day though, was when I first saw Rukia. I didn't really understand what was going on, just that my father was dead, and she was standing by his body. I hid, unsure of what to do, and waited until she left. I started wandering around, but then Dr. Camden, my uncle, found me. He helped me learn to control my abilities, and soon I was able to create flames from nowhere. My time with him was short though. When I turned ten he was killed by my grandfather, Dr. Cerax. He started teaching us to be monsters, saying we were meant to rule the world. I didn't like it, and I fled. While I was running I started finding hollows were chasing me, and after a while I started fighting them. First one I fought, a soul reaper was nearby, and he finished it off for me. I soon start only fighting to hold them back while I waited for a soul reaper to finish it. That's how I found Rukia again. I remembered her from when I saw her when my father died, and I asked her who she was. We ended up talking about all kinds of things, history of soul reapers, hollow's we've faced, and even a little of my history. When I got to talking about Dr. Camden though, I lost control. I thought it was my fault he was dead, and pulled out a fire sword and cut off my arms and legs. I was about to stab my head through when Rukia stopped me. By some stroke of fortune Misery had found me, and took me back to Cerax. He gave me all my mechanical parts, and I ran away again. I started fighting hollows, never killing them, just helping the soul reapers out when I could. Rukia and I met up again a couple times, and soon became an excellent team. But then on my birthday I went psycho during a fight with some hollows and started burning down everything around me. And that's pretty much my story." MI said, "My birth name was Christopher Alexander Camden, but I just prefer MI."

"Wow… That was a long story." Orihime said at the end. Ichigo just stayed silent, still trying to get the story straight, but Chad understood everything. Only Rukia had no reaction to the story. MI looked back at everyone, and then turned to look out one of the windows.

"Some days I just wonder what life would be like if I never even had this curse." He sighed, walking over to a large circular device. He looked it over, entered a series of numbers, and stepped back as a blue field formed inside the loop.

"The time gate… You fixed it?" Rukia asked, walking over. MI nodded, and started entering more numbers.

"So what are you going to do with it?" Ichigo said. He was guessing from the name it was a time travel device.

"I'm going back to stop Misery from getting her hands on a family heirloom that increase her power exponentially. If I don't make sure it's destroyed, then the world as we know it will never be the same." MI said. He took one last look at everyone, waved, and walked through the blue field.

_**To be continued.**_


End file.
